Exit the Maestro
by Sidekicks-anonymous
Summary: Rick was prepared to face villains...but not when the villain was his best friend. The aftermath of "Enter the Maestro."
1. Enter the Maestro

A-Bomb knew when he'd joined Hulk's team that his life was gonna get weird. He knew it would require facing down villains, aliens, and all-around freaky stuff. It was only natural; when you're a hero, monsters are part of the job.

But he'd never imagined one of those monsters would be his own best friend.

"Hulk, please," he tried one last time to get through to his leader. But Hulk's expression remained cold and unmoved. His eyes glowed green, a sign of the corrupting gamma sickness he'd been infected with while destroying the meteor's core. A-Bomb had never seen him so deaf to the words of his allies.

It scared him. It scared him more than anything.

The pain in his arm increased as the Hulk bent it backwards. Any further and he'd need a robot arm like his future-self. A-Bomb twisted, trying to relieve the pressure on it. "Stop, Hulk! No! You and the Smashers are all I got!" He looked into Hulk's eyes, pleading. "You're my best friend!"

A twitch ran through Hulk's face. He shook his head, as if trying to clear it. "Rick…"

 _Yes! Fight it! Fight it, Hulk_! A-Bomb cheered silently. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his future-self stand up, the gamma-siphoner finished. But to his horror, the Maestro tackled him, sending the siphoner flying.

A-Bomb yanked his arm out of Hulk's grip and snatched the device before it hit the ground. _I really hope this works,_ he thought.

"Time to take your medicine, Hulk!" He quipped as he aimed the machine at Hulk's chest. But he hesitated when he saw the betrayal on Hulk's face.

 _I'm sorry, buddy… But there's no other way._ A-Bomb steeled himself and pulled the trigger.


	2. Trust

It was night. The Hulk was cured of his gamma poisoning. Maestro and A-Bomb's future self had returned to their own time. Headquarters had been cleaned up. And that meteor hadn't destroyed Earth. For all intents and purposes, today's adventure had been a success.

So why wasn't he happy?

A-Bomb rested his head on his arms and stared out the window. The view was spectacular; it always was in Vista Verde. There were so many stars, it looked like someone had spilled sugar across the night sky. But he couldn't appreciate it tonight.

"Penny for your thoughts, Rick?"

A-Bomb glanced up as Jen sat down next to him. He struggled to put his feelings into words. Right now, his emotions were a mess, tangled together in an indiscernible blob that even he had trouble sorting out.

"I'm… upset," he decided finally. Jen raised an eyebrow at him, inviting him to elaborate. "It's just… Hulk's like my brother, ya know? Always has been. But today, he treated me like an enemy. I know it wasn't his fault, it was the gamma radiation messing with his mind, but…" Rick sighed. "I can't shake it off."

Jen nodded sympathetically. "How's your arm, by the way?"

A-Bomb rubbed the limb absentmindedly. It was still sore, but he wasn't going to admit that. "It's fine."

"Hmm." Jen fell silent. Neither of them spoke for a while.

"It was kind of surreal, seeing Hulk like that," Jen remarked. "I kept thinking I was dreaming. I've seen him angry plenty of times, but… not angry at _us_."

A-Bomb looked back at her. He felt like smacking himself. After all, she was Hulk's cousin—real blood family—and he'd treated her the same way he'd treated A-Bomb. She was probably taking this ordeal worse than he was. He should've realized that sooner.

"Are _you_ okay?" A-Bomb asked softly. Jen smiled back, but it was a melancholy sort of smile.

"I just… never thought something like this could happen." Jen stared up at the ceiling. She seemed to be talking to herself as much as to him. "Hulk's always been so loyal and so protective—over-protective, sometimes. Even when he goes into rampage-mode, he doesn't direct it at us. But today…" She sighed. "I didn't think it was possible for him to turn against us so completely like that."

"It wasn't his fault!" A-Bomb protested, automatically coming to his friend's defense. "If it weren't for the gamma poisoning, Maestro never would've been able to make him attack us."

"I know." Jen gave him that melancholy, knowing smile again. "But that doesn't make it any easier, does it?"

A-Bomb frowned. "No," he muttered, looking back out the window. "It doesn't."

That was it—that's what was bothering him. Like Jen, he hadn't thought it was possible for Hulk to _really_ turn against them. Hulk's loyalty was unquestionable—and, as Jen had pointed out, he had major protectiveness issues. It seemed impossible that the same Hulk who'd wanted him to stay at base because of a "bad feeling" would then try to destroy him. But he had. Even if the gamma poisoning had been messing with him, Hulk had, of his own free will, decided that A-Bomb was a threat—and then attempted to tear his arm off. A-Bomb shuddered; it wasn't a pleasant thought.

So... What happened now? Was Hulk still his best friend-or even his friend at all?It seemed like this kind of thing would put a damper on friendships.

As A-Bomb thought about it, though, his unease went away. No; this didn't change anything. So Hulk wasn't incorrubtible, so what? No one was. This didn't mean he wasn't devoted to his team. It didn't mean he was any less of an amazing friend. Hulk had put up with A-Bomb for years; there was no way he would abandon his bro over this.

"Where's Hulk?" he asked, standing up.

"In his hidey-hole."

Of course. Probably wallowing in guilt, like he always did when he slipped up. A-Bomb's anger melted away completely. "I'm gonna go talk to him," he announced. He held out a hand to Jen. "Wanna come with me?"

Jen smiled—a real smile this time—and shook her head. "Thanks, but I think you two need a solo talk. Besides, you're better at cheering him up than I am. You've got that innocent puppy-dog face."

"I do not!" A-Bomb pouted.

"Do too! You're doing it now!" Jen laughed as A-Bomb swatted at her. "Now take your puppy-face and go get Grumpy Cat out of his funk."

A-Bomb had to smirk at the image of Hulk as Grumpy Cat. "I'll do my best. Thanks for the talk, Jen."

"No problem. What's family for?" She waved as he left.


	3. Forgiveness

It was night. He'd been cured of his gamma poisoning. Maestro and A-Bomb's future self had returned to their own time. Headquarters had been cleaned up. And that meteor hadn't destroyed Earth. For all intents and purposes, today's adventure had been a success.

So why wasn't he happy?

Hulk sighed. He had nothing to be happy about. The events of the day haunted him. Especially the image of Rick's face as he'd begged Hulk to come to his senses. Hulk had never seen his youngest teammate look so betrayed. Or so frightened. Frightened of _him_. Hulk buried his face in his arms, trying to expel the images.

The gamma poisoning hadn't affected his memory; he could recall everything from his time as the Maestro. He remembered how certain he'd been of his team's betrayal, certain that they were evil, that they had to be defeated. He remembered grabbing Rick's arm, feeling the sinews strain as he'd twisted it in unnatural ways. He remembered seeing Rick, with those begging puppy-dog eyes, pleading with him to stop… and he hadn't cared. He hadn't cared at all.

He disgusted himself.

There was a knock on the trapdoor beside him. Hulk scowled. Didn't anyone in this base respect privacy? "Go away," he growled.

"No," came the impertinent answer. Rick. Hulk's guilt flared up again. He turned away, curling in on himself.

"I don't want to talk right now."

The trapdoor squeaked as it opened. Hulk cursed silently; why did Rick never listen?

"You know, there are a lot of places more comfortable than this—what is this, a storage room?"

"Used to be," Hulk muttered. "I like it because it's _private_."

There were some scuffing sounds as Rick settled himself on the floor. Even with his back turned, Hulk could _feel_ his friend staring at him. He didn't even say anything, he just _stared_. Hulk sighed. "Do you have to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Stare like that! It's like you're a dog and I forgot to feed you!"

"Why is everyone comparing me to a dog today?..." Rick muttered. "Anyway, it's the only way to get you to talk to me when you're in a mood like this."

Hulk sighed again and twisted around. "You're just gonna annoy me until I talk to you?"

"Yep!" Rick grinned. Hulk shook his head in disbelief. His lips twitched upward, amused despite himself at Rick's stubbornness.

The amusement quickly vanished, though. Hulk's eyes lingered on the arm that Rick had nearly lost today. He looked away, the guilt returning tenfold.

"Hulk…"

"Don't, Rick." Hulk whispered. "Don't try to tell me this wasn't my fault. Don't tell me not to blame myself. I could've killed you all today."

"But you didn't! And it wasn't you anyway, it was the radiation—"

"Shut up, Rick." It came out harsher than he intended. But all he wanted right now was to be left alone to his guilt.

"…Anyway," Rick muttered. "I actually came up here to apologize."

Hulk glanced over his shoulder in surprise. Rick was sitting cross-legged on top of the trapdoor, scratching his neck sheepishly. "What do YOU have to apologize for?" Hulk asked, raising an eyebrow.

"For having unrealistic expectations of my best friend." Rick said with an awkward smile.

Hulk was speechless as Rick continued. "Usually it's the rest of the team who's being mind-controlled—like with the Wendigos, and Venom. You're the one who always fixes the problem. And… I guess I kinda started taking that for granted. I thought you were too strong to let yourself be manipulated like we were. That it would never be YOU being controlled."

Hulk frowned. "I'm not incorruptible, Rick. Not even close."

"And I should have realized that." Rick confessed. "I know now that even the strongest people need help sometimes. You're the awesomest hero I know, Hulk—but you're still human. And you have your lapses just like the rest of us do."

Rick gave Hulk a crooked half-grin. "Think you can forgive yourself the same way you forgive the rest of us?"

Hulk looked away. Rick didn't understand. Of course he'd forgive the rest of the Smashers—it wasn't their faults they'd been controlled. Those instances couldn't have been prevented. He should have been able to stop himself this time, he should have had better control of himself, he—

It wasn't different at all, was it?

"…Yeah. Guess you're right." Hulk's lips twitched upward in the faintest of smiles. "Thanks, Rick."

"What are friends for?" Rick beamed. "Come on; Jen's making barbeque. Let's get some before Skarr eats it all."

Hulk followed him down through the trapdoor. The guilt was still there, niggling at the back of his mind. He doubted he'd ever be completely free of it. But it was easier to bear now.

It was always easier when his friends were beside him.

* * *

 **Not very good, I know, but hopefully it was somewhat entertaining. I love exploring emotion turmoil, and A-Bomb and Hulk's bro-friendship. Bromance is awesome. :3  
Please leave a review, if you liked it or if you think I can do better!**


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